A Record of Ash & Ruin: The Grieving Lands - Chapter 6Book 1: : Hunt & Harvest

“The civilians here are not simple, they are cunning, they are greedy, they are tyrannical.”

“The nobles here are not noble, they are selfish, they are arrogant, they are insidious.”

“I used to be angry about this, but now I pity them. This is a dark world. Since they were born, they have not had the opportunity to choose another life. Now it is up to me to give them.”

“I will bring food and clothing to them, and then they will have morality. I will bring comfort to them, and then they will have faith. I am a traveler from a distant world, and I will bring the fire of civilization to In this dark and wild place, I know I am doing the right thing, eradicating famine, driving out disease, suppressing crime, ending war, and giving anyone who wants a change a second chance.”

“Then, kill all those idiots who are shameless.”

- Description from novelbuddy

In this life, I will live for you.

The story is about a boy entering high school, who answers a strange call from a public phone one night. The caller challenges him to a bet: She’ll remove the birthmark which he sees as the cause of so many problems, and he’ll have fifty days to win the heart of a girl he’d considered far beyond his reach. And with this, a very strange summer begins.

Allison is an adventure series set in a world containing one continent (extending roughly from the Equator to 60 degrees North latitude) which is divided down the center by a towering mountain range and a huge river. The industry and technology of the world are roughly equivalent to Europe in the 1930s. Due to the geography, two cultures developed on either side of the divide, and at the time the story begins, the cultures have been at war on and off for hundreds of years. The bloodiest conflict yet began thirty-five years before the start of the story; both sides are so exhausted by the conflict that an uneasy armistice is signed after some five years of fighting. Aside from a brief conflict over the jurisdiction of the river, resulting in the formation of a buffer zone on either side, this peace has largely been unbroken. The east side of the world is known as Roxche, though formally the region’s name is the Roxcheanuk Confederation. The entire region comprises sixteen countries which all speak a common language. The west side is known as Sou Beil, though formally the region’s name is the Allied Kingdoms of Bezel Iltoa. The region comprises the two kingdoms of Bezel and Iltoa which both serve to bring together a small number of countries under a common language different than that of the eastern region. There are far more blond-haired people in the West than the East.

At the beginning of the first novel, Allison, a pilot in the Roxche Air Force, has come to visit her childhood friend Wilhelm (“Wil” for short), who has remained at school over his summer break to continue his studies. While traveling in the countryside near the school, the two encounter an old man well-known to Wil’s schoolmates as a teller of tall tales. Nevertheless, he captures their interest with his talk about a “treasure” which, if found, is said to be able to put an end to the war. No one would believe him that the war between the countries could ever end, so no one listened to him. When the old man is abducted and taken over to Sou Beil, Allison and Wil steal an airplane and chase the abductors across the river into the next region. Fortunately, the two were raised as orphans by a woman who came from the West, and thus can speak both languages.